Roxy Lost 2st 3lbs*

Roxy Birch started on her Hairy Bikers Diet Club journey at the beginning of February and has since dropped from 14st 8lbs to a healthier 12st 5lbs*. That’s an incredible loss of 2st 3lbs, not to mention that her pre-baby clothes are now too big for her! Read her weight loss journey…

Roxy, a child minder and mother-of-two from Surrey, outlined the moment of truth for prompting her weight loss. “I realised I had no pictures of myself taken with my children in the last two years. I avoided birthdays, christenings, Christmas. I was always the arm in the background or the person taking it.”

So Roxy decided to take a leap into the Hairy Bikers Diet Club, but it wasn’t the first time she had tried to lose weight. “I had tried to go on ‘diets’, which was basically just me eating salads and trying to cut back, but because I didn’t weigh myself it was easy to lose track and go back to old habits.” Roxy also puts it down to a lack of education and awareness of calories in foods. “I ate what I thought were healthy meals like jacket potato or salad, but then was snacking on biscuits with the kids or eating the fish fingers that were left over, then a proper dinner.”

However with the structure and variation of the Hairy Bikers Diet Club, losing the weight this time hasn’t been such a problem. “It’s been surprisingly easy! Once I got into the swing of it, I found the books a good base for recipes and now have ideas for ones of my own that fit into the diet!”

Speaking about her favourite Bikers food in the club Roxy reveals it’s the Fakeaway recipes she enjoys the most. “The recipes are great, especially the coconut and prawn curry and the chicken tikka masala. They keep the husband happy but are good for my diet too. The fluffy banana pancakes are also a favourite with the kids and I have tweaked the recipe with other fruit or toppings.”

“The recipes are great, especially the coconut and prawn curry and the chicken tikka masala. They keep the husband happy but are good for my diet too. The fluffy banana pancakes are also a favourite… “

To keep herself motivated, Roxy continues to weigh in regularly and also try on pre-children clothes, which are now too big. Losing weight has obviously made Roxy physically smaller and more toned, but she has also seen emotion improvments. “I am more confident I can achieve things now. My husband is very proud of me.”

Roxy’s average day includes, “Melon or fruit for breakfast with my multi vitamin. Small snack mid-morning, omelette and salad for lunch and one of the Hairy Bikers meals for dinner with my husband. I walk the dog 2.5 miles a day every night and in the morning I do some resistance work with weights to tone my arms while I sneak in some trash TV before the kids get up.”

Food swaps

Chew sugar-free gum to stop yourself snacking when cooking for the kids.

Swap glasses of water to a one litre bottle to keep with you at all times. Then you know you get your eight glasses a day if you refill it.

Change to skimmed milk. You won’t notice the difference in cooking, but it does reduce the calories.

Starting your weight loss journey

Stop putting it off and weigh yourself. Weigh-in weekly and track it in the Diet Club so you know you won’t forget.

Include everything you eat in the online diary. You will be surprised that some things you thought were diet-friendly are not!

Start today. Not tomorrow, not next Monday, today. Don’t put it off. Stop denying that you need to do something about it. Just get on the scales and deal with it. Pretending that you don’t need to do something is just putting off the inevitable.

Staying motivated

Have a goal item of clothing to get into. I am now on my second goal item.

Remind yourself of how far you have come. I now regret my lack of before pictures so take one, even if you don’t want to look at it today. You will be pleased you did in six weeks’ time.

Take it one day at a time. Deal with today. Then deal with tomorrow when you get there. Don’t be harsh on yourself if you slip up, but don’t use it as a reason to quit either.

Dealing with challenges

Ignore them. I know how well I have done. This is easier said than done, I know.

Look at your numbers. Remind yourself how much you have lost and how far you have come.

If you are in a situation where the food/drink is all around you, have gum. Minty taste and you won’t want to nibble. I was recently at a party with a buffet and I managed to escape unscathed as I told my husband I was tempted and he led me away.

*Results May Vary: Causes for being overweight or obese vary from person to person. Whether genetic or environmental, it should be noted that food intake, rates of metabolism and levels of exercise and physical exertion vary from person to person. This means weight loss results will also vary from person to person. No individual result should be seen as typical.

TIME TO SHED SOME TIMBER?

If this has inspired you to shed some timber then why not head over to our Weight Loss Calculator. Step on those scales and then pop your details into our Weight Loss Calculator. We’ll let you know how we can help.